Offense was key in Florida State’s dominant win over Boston College on Saturday, October 13. The ’Noles improve to 3-1 in ACC play after defeating Boston College 51-7. / Riley Shaaber/FSView

Written by

Alexis Schulman

Staff Writer

If the scoreboard in Doak Campbell showing a 51-7 beat down could speak, it would have said, “This is our response.”

Response it was, and the Seminoles said it themselves, their words exhibited in their play on the field Saturday night.

“Bouncing back was important for us,” defensive tackle Everett Dawkins said. “Last week was rough, It was tough for us the whole week. Good thing about it, we have so many leaders on this team, we were able to pick ourselves up during the week.”

The Seminoles put last week’s loss in Raleigh behind them once and for all.

“Thought our kids did a great job all week of putting the last game behind them and not letting it drag on,” head coach Jimbo Fisher said. “Moving on, showed a lot of maturity in our leadership, prepared very well, thought they played very well from the get go.”

The offense bounced in particular, after being shut out in the second half against NC State last week. Criticized for conservative play calling, the Seminoles got out of the gate with a little fire and nine straight passes.

Led by EJ Manuel, who seemed to become ever more accurate as the game clock wound down, the ’Noles pounded Boston College for yard after yard, one downfield throw after another.

Manuel threw for a career-high –high school or college—439 yards and four touchdowns. He was 27-for-34, and the majority of the seven incompletions came off dropped balls. The senior didn’t think twice about starting FSU’s first offensive drive on their own one yard line.

“I was ready to go,” Manuel said. “I was excited we got our first drive and took it 99 yards and put some points on the board.”

Nine receivers caught passes and Manuel spread the ball around—he even tallied some receiving after grabbing a Lonnie Pryor fumble in mid-air on the 99 yard drive and running for 11 yards.

The Seminoles’ offense clicked on all cylinders for the first time in more than two games as they racked up 649 total offensive yards.

A solid passing game is generated by solid protection and with starting right tackle Menelik Watson back in the lineup, FSU’s pass protection finally gained some traction. Manuel was sacked just one time and the Eagles made just two tackles for loss. In FSU’s last two games, the O-Line allowed 19 tackles for loss.

“It all felt great,” Manuel said about the win. “The receivers did a great job, the O-Line did a great job of pass blocking and giving me opportunities to sit back there and throw the ball.”

Kenny Shaw scored on a 77-yard touchdown pass to end that 99-yard drive. Lonnie Pryor scored twice and Kelvin Benjamin caught a short touchdown pass.

After playing minimally last week, James Wilder Jr. got back into the action, and picked up where he left off as the Seminoles’ spark. rushing for 27 yards and catching three passes, two of which were touchdown receptions. Wilder put his body on the line and laid himself out for both touchdowns—diving, flying, defying gravity—and prompting fans to create a sort of catch phrase for the running back: ‘Flight number 32 is ready for take-off.’

“It was very important [to get the win],” Wilder said. “A lot of teams have goals of winning a national championship and they lose a game. Some teams can’t bounce back, but we just made sure that we didn’t have that taste in our mouth anymore.”

Responding to adversity with 649 yards of offense and a 51-7 trouncing is one heck of a mouthwash.